Bristol’ Hidden Impact” - An Explanation

From Bess Frimodig:

“Bristol’ Hidden Impact” project was part of the international printmaking conference IMPACT.

The Hidden Impact project focused on showing prints in unexpected places, as in churches, public toilets and shop window.These prints then formed a trail. I and my collaborator Anna Harley picked Great George Street in central Bristol. The work, which subverted real estate placards, was site-specific and developed through an on going dialogue with the people living and working on this street.

The images explored the hopes, dreams and anxieties people have in relation to their property; issues that are central to ordinary people in the current economic climate of falling house prices, the threat of redundancy and home repossession.

The prints were the same size as the real-estate placards and produced from materials and substrates found inside private homes and DIY depots, such as linoleum, wooden floors, rugs and wallpapers.

The aim was to create a visual link between the inhabitants and the audience on the street, evoking thoughts and feelings around what a home means, what it is worth and how much it costs or offers in emotional terms.

It turned out to be positive, involved and the formation of ways forward for socially engaged art, which started with simply knocking on doors, posting fliers, talking and putting up the prints.

Some reactions were unexpected- such as the protester against the family planning agency who mistook the ‘nest-egg’ placards for ‘eggs for sale’ and threw in the basement! The ‘let by’ sign held the attention by drawing people to the wall paper- only to find bugs crawling. A quiet message to the landlords renting out to students- according to the participants of Great George Street. To see is sometimes to think twice.

In conclusion, the feedback stated by person who was part of the dialogue through her company said- ’ more art in the streets’.